SCCM WQL Query: Finding Devices with Specific Software Installed

If you want to identify machines with a specific piece of software installed, you can query it using the Add/Remove Programs (ARP) software inventory data ConfigMgr collects from clients.

The Query

select distinct SMS_R_System.Name, SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion, SMS_R_System.ClientVersion from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS on SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName like "%Software Name%"

Replace %Software Name% with all or part of the exact display name as it appears in Add/Remove Programs — the % wildcards mean it’ll match a partial string, useful when different versions add a version number to the display name.

Worth Knowing

This depends on Add/Remove Programs inventory being enabled in your client settings (under Hardware Inventory Classes), and on clients having reported inventory recently. For 64-bit software that only shows up in the 32-bit registry view, or software that doesn’t register a proper Add/Remove Programs entry at all, this query won’t catch it — in those cases a File System or Registry-based inventory query targeting the actual install path is more reliable.

Still the Right Approach on Current Configuration Manager (Updated for 2026)

The SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS class and this join pattern remain unchanged on current Configuration Manager (2603) — no deprecation notice has been issued for this hardware inventory class. If you want the 32-bit-registry-view software this query misses on 64-bit clients, ConfigMgr also inventories a separate SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS_64 class covering natively-64-bit entries; running the query against both classes (or a UNION of the two) gives fuller coverage than either alone.

Resources

• query
• Microsoft
• WQL
• our SQL & WQL query library